A typical poultry house is long structure that may have a length of several hundred feet, a width of about 40-60 feet, and may house about 15,000-20,000 birds. Poultry houses are often equipped with an automated feeding system consisting of one or more feed delivery lines which run the length of the poultry house. Among the important parts of such feeding systems for poultry are the feeder pans or pan assemblies. These feeder pans receive feed flowing from system conveyors or like mechanisms, and are disposed within a poultry house so as to afford the poultry ready access to the feed they contain. Some of these devices include, in general, a pan for receiving and disposing feed for access by the poultry, and a hood overlying the pan which accepts feed from a conveyor or like delivery device. Usually, the pan is suspended at a position spaced below the feed conveyor system, but, in some instances the feed pan is located on the floor of the feed house. It is a labor intensive process to walk the floor based feeder pans to the appropriate locations within a commercial feed house, raising the need for labor and increasing costs. In addition, over time the feeder pans become soiled with bird excrement, thus requiring regular cleanings.
Poultry feedings systems of the pan-type are well-known in the art. Examples of such feeding systems and feeders used in them are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,655,317; 5,007,380; 4,476,811; 4,003,339; 3,971,340; 3,598,087; 3,415,228; 3,230,933; and 3,033,163; which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. As generally disclosed in these various patents, feed from an bulk feed storage tank located outside of the poultry house is conveyed and discharged into one or more feed hoppers or similar distributed receptacles that may be located inside the house.
An improved poultry feed system is desired that allows the system and individual poultry feeder units to be fully filled or charged with feed while residing on the floor of the feed house, while having the ability to be stored on location, but without providing a perch for the birds. It is also desirable that the feeding system from which the poultry can obtain feed be arranged so as to discourage the poultry from perching on top of the device and spoiling the feed with excrement.